Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T14:59:34.596Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A new pygmy species of box jellyfish (Cubozoa: Chirodropida) from sub-tropical Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2015

Lisa-Ann Gershwin  and
Merrick Ekins
Lisa-Ann Gershwin*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, 7000, Tasmania, Australia South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia
Merrick Ekins
Affiliation:
Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: L. Gershwin, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart Tasmania, 7000, Australia email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Tropical box jellyfish include some of the world's most venomous animals, leading researchers and the media to wonder whether changes in climate may drive these species into sub-tropical waters. The discovery, therefore, of small box jellyfish in the waterways of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast of south-east Queensland raised concern. This pygmy species proved to be new to science, separated from other species in the genus Chiropsella by its very small size; its semi-circular phacellae; very shallow, coalesced gastric saccules; its peculiar, long pedalia where the ‘palm’ is greatly reduced and the non-opposing ‘fingers’ branch off together at the same level; and a knee-like bend of the pedalial canal. The residential canal/river habitat of this species of chirodropid raises the question of whether this area is also suitable for habitation by the larger, more virulent chirodropids such as the so-called ‘deadly box jellyfish’, Chironex fleckeri. This new species, Chiropsella saxoni sp. nov., brings the total number of chirodropid species described from Australian waters to five.

Keywords

Chiropsella saxoniChiropsalmidaesouth-east Queenslandclimate changeecologytaxonomybiodiversitypublic safety
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 8 , 2015 , e111
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

AAP (2013) Tragedy: deadly jellyfish theory in Ningaloo deaths. West Australian. Available at: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/canberra-man-still-missing-four-days-after-his-wife-died-snorkelling-off-coral-bay/story-fnhocxo3-1226646195828Google Scholar
Anonymous (2011) Strange jellyfish spotted at Coffs Harbour marina. ABC Mid North Coast NSW, 22 February 2011. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/22/3145485.htmGoogle Scholar
Bentlage, B. (2013) Description of the chirodropid box jellyfish Chiropsella rudloei sp. nov. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) from Madagascar. Marine Biodiversity Records 6, e118, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755267213000924CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornelius, P.F.S., Fenner, P.J. and Hore, R. (2005) Chiropsalmus maculatus sp. nov., a cubomedusa from the Great Barrier Reef. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 51, 399–405.Google Scholar
Cropp, B. and Cropp, I. (1984) The deadliest creature on earth. Scuba Diver 3, 42–48.Google Scholar
Elder, J. (2013) Box jellyfish in city waters Experts lack ‘resources’ to test creepy stinger. The Gold Coast Bulletin, 27 March 2013, Southport, Queensland, 3 pp.Google Scholar
Endean, B. (1988) Venom of Chironex, the world's most venomous animal. In Pearn, J. and Covacevich, J. (eds) Venoms and victims. Brisbane: The Queensland Museum and Amphion Press, pp. 15–24.Google Scholar
Gershwin, L. (2005) Taxonomy and phylogeny of Australian Cubozoa. PhD thesis, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. Available at: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/27395/Google Scholar
Gershwin, L. (2006a). Nematocysts of the Cubozoa. Zootaxa 1232, 1–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gershwin, L. (2006b) Comments on Chiropsalmus (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida):  a preliminary revision of the Chiropsalmidae, with descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa 1231, 1–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gershwin, L. (2014) Box Jellyfish and Irukandji deaths in Australia. Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services. Available at: http://www.stingeradvisor.com/boxydeaths.htm.Google Scholar
Gershwin, L. and Alderslade, P. (2006) Chiropsella bart, n. sp., a new box jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida) from the Northern Territory, Australia. Beagle 22, 15–21.Google Scholar
Gershwin, L., De Nardi, M., Fenner, P.J. and Winkel, K.D. (2009) Marine stingers: review of an under-recognized global coastal management issue. Journal of Coastal Management 38, 22–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gershwin, L. and Hannay, P. (2014) An anomalous cluster of Irukandji jellyfish stings (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Carybdeida) at Ningaloo Reef. Records of the Western Australian Museum 29, 78–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IBRA (2012) Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, version 7. Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Availabe at: http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/5b3d2d31-2355-4b60-820c-e370572b2520/files/bioregions-new.pdfGoogle Scholar
Marshall, C. (2013) New jellyfish species discovered on Gold Coast. ABC Gold Coast, 27 March 2013. Available at: www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/03/27/3724855.htmGoogle Scholar
McKechnie, K. (2010) Marine killers heading south. ABC 7:30 Report, 12 January. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2790871.htmGoogle Scholar
NineNews (2013) Box jellyfish found in Gold Coast canal. Nine Gold Coast News, 22 March 2013. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/9newsgoldcoast/posts/549890008378920Google Scholar
Peter, M. (2010) Invasion of nasties to put bite on southeast – Marine stingers pose threat to Coast tourism. The Courier – Mail, 16 January. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, p. 30.Google Scholar
Richardson, A.J., Bakun, A., Hays, G.C. and Gibbons, M.J. (2009) The jellyfish joyride: causes, consequences and management responses to a more gelatinous future. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24, 312–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southcott, R.V. (1956) Studies on Australian cubomedusae, including a new genus and species apparently harmful to man. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 7, 254–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyrrell, C. (2013) Jellyfish suspicions in beach couple's deaths. The West Australian, 23 October 2013. Available at: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/19507991/Google Scholar
Williamson, J.A., Fenner, P.J., Burnett, J.W. and Rifkin, J. (eds) (1996) Venomous and poisonous marine animals: a medical and biological handbook. Sydney: NSW University Press.Google Scholar